Caple’s Corner: Even in uncertain times, Hasselbeck takes charge

Matt Hasselbeck is still calling the shots for the Seahawks. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

Chief among Matt Hasselbeck’s contributions to last week’s informal, two-day, super-mini-camp on the University of Washington’s campus were not his six, “kind of beat up” footballs, nor the quarterback’s intimate knowledge of the best places to avoid getting your car towed.

“I know where to park,” Hasselbeck said, assessing his role in facilitating the gathering of some 30 Seahawks players for two days of workouts last week. “That’s about it.”

Modesty suits the veteran. So does leadership, even if the free agent to-be shrugged at the notion that he did anything other than show up and work out with the rest of his teammates at Dempsey Indoor on Friday.

Well, they aren’t his teammates, technically. Not right now, and maybe not ever again, depending on whether Hasselbeck, 35, and the Seahawks can agree to a new deal once the lockout ends and teams are permitted to do business again.

But if you watched Hasselbeck command the weight room, serve as the team’s makeshift liaison with the media and direct his receivers and offensive teammates during a brief 7-on-7 session, you’d know that it’s as obvious now as it was during the team’s Super Bowl run of 2006: this is Matt Hasselbeck’s team.

And some of you will disagree, but the aforementioned reason is exactly why it’s in the Seahawks’ best interests to keep it that way.

Here’s why: the guy isn’t even under contract, there have been reports from several corners that talks between Hasselbeck and Seattle’s front office weren’t exactly productive prior to the lockout, and yet here he was, handing out lifting assignments, showing every sign possible that he still considers this his city, his team, his responsibility.

“I’d say the best part about working out right now is just the camaraderie and getting together with the guys,” Hasselbeck said on a sun-drenched day at UW. “That’s probably the thing that you miss the most right now.”

It should be noted that Hasselbeck gave credit to running back Justin Forsett for serving as the primary rallier of the troops — through emails, text messages, Facebook, carrier pigeon — and for that, Forsett should be commended, as should the rest of the Seahawks players who came from all corners of the country just to work out with their teammates again.

But once the activities began, there was no question who was calling the shots.

“You guys know Matt,” said tight end John Carlson. “Matt’s Matt. Matt’s being Matt right now. Matt’s leading 7-on-7 right now, and I’m missing it, so I better get going.”

Picture the exact opposite of that last week at UW. Hasselbeck — along with several other Seahawks players — stopped to greet each reporter in attendance with a handshake, asked how everyone had been, gladly fielded our questions, and let other players know that we were interested in speaking to them, too.

That’s what veterans do, especially in the middle of a lockout when they know the best way to make the owners look silly — and, boy, do they — is to work your rear end off while this whole labor dispute gets hammered out in the courts.

So for a team that wants so badly to get younger this offseason — if general manager John Schneider is to be taken at his word, and I believe he is in this instance — the Seahawks could do much worse than to make every attempt to re-sign Hasselbeck, even if it means the free-agent market — and number of teams seeking a veteran quarterback — will likely dictate that Seattle must pay him more than it would like.

Hear me out now. I’m not saying guts and hard work and leadership and all those warm fuzzies are reason enough on their own to re-sign a guy who otherwise isn’t fit to start in this league anymore. We haven’t forgotten about the 17 interceptions he threw last year, the hip injury that forced him to sit out the season’s most crucial game, nor the decision-making that even Hasselbeck himself described at times as “stupid.”

But also, let’s remember the New Orleans game. How hard Hasselbeck worked to ready himself to start the week prior against St. Louis. Everything he’s done for this franchise already. And how insistent coach Pete Carroll and Hasselbeck both were at season’s end about working out a new deal.

Look, too, at the shape Hasselbeck has kept himself in during the offseason, prompting receiver Mike Williams to offer the following assessment after Friday‘s workout: “I think he feels really good about his body coming into this year, as opposed to the last couple years, he’s had some things going on. He got out here today and threw the ball great. He actually made some throws today that he didn’t make that well during the season, so you can tell the work has been put in.”

Bottom line is, Hasselbeck didn’t look like a guy who’d played his last game as a Seahawk.

And Seattle fans should take that as a positive.

THUMBS UP: UW men’s crew

In case you hadn’t heard, the Washington Huskies men’s crew team won the IRA national championship on Saturday, edging Harvard in the varsity eight race to take home the school’s 14th national title.

For those not in the know: men’s crew isn’t sanctioned by the NCAA, so don’t be fooled by the acronym — it doesn’t get any bigger than the IRA (Intercollegiate Rowing Association) championships in men’s collegiate rowing.

Not only that, but the Huskies took home their fifth consecutive Ten Eyck Cup, which is awarded to the team champions who perform the best across all races. Washington also won both of the four races (four men in a boat), and the second varsity eight.

My crew knowledge is limited, but I do know this — every interview I’ve done at the Conibear Shellhouse has been conducted before 9 a.m., by which time some of the rowers had already completed their workouts and were headed to class.

Makes me tired just thinking about it. Congrats to the Huskies, champions once more.

THUMBS DOWN: People who throw home-run balls back onto the field

Look, I’m all for supporting the home team and everything. Wear a jersey, buy a foam finger, degrade the right fielder’s mother, go nuts.

But I’d like to order a Safeco security-guard form tackle for whomever began the tradition of throwing home run balls hit by the visiting team back onto the field.

We’ve all seen this happen plenty of times, of course, and the most recent example I witnessed in person was Matt Joyce’s solo shot off Aaron Laffey in the eighth inning of Thursday’s game.

I don’t get it. Joyce seems like a fine young man, and the Tampa Bay Rays are far from a rival to the Mariners. And Seattle was leading 8-1 at the time. I can’t imagine catching a Major League home run ball and becoming so angry that it was hit by a player wearing an opposing uniform that I no longer wished for it to be in my possession.

Also, why is it legal to toss a home run ball back on the field? If someone brought an object of similar size and weight into the stadium and chucked it into the outfield during play, wouldn’t that be grounds for ejection?

Doing the same with a home run ball should prompt the same punishment. Unless, of course, the Yankees are in town and you can get that thing all the way to third base, where Alex Rodriguez would be playing.